Taiwan’s housing transactions fell last month from one month earlier, as global financial market turmoil dampened investor confidence, major real-estate agencies said.
Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), the nation’s only listed real estate broker, saw its sales drop 8 percent in Taipei City and 13 percent in New Taipei City last month, from August, the company said in a statement.
Stanley Su (蘇啟榮), head of Sinyi’s research department, said the decline was mainly the result of equity corrections across global bourses last month, during which the TAIEX shed 6.67 percent, or 515.98 points, to finish at 7,225.38 at the close of trade on Friday.
Foreign investors slashed NT$78.68 billion (US$2.58 billion) in net local shares last month, after cutting NT$190.35 billion net holdings one month earlier, Taiwan Stock Exchange data indicated.
Houses priced at NT$20 million or lower accounted for 75 percent of Sinyi’s transactions as people favored cash over aggressive real -estate investments amid growing economic uncertainty, Su said.
The cautious sentiment drove up inquiries for two-bedroom apartments valued at between NT$12 million and NT$22 million among first-time home buyers, Su said.
Prices were likely to remain flat or fall slightly on a negative wealth effect in the coming months, he said, while young married couples and people intent on tying the knot would support the market.
Taiwanese like to get married toward the end of the year and home purchases are considered important in building families.
H&B Realty Co (住商不動產), the nation’s largest real-estate broker by number of franchises, reported a 5 percent fall in housing transactions last month, with the Greater Taipei area accounting for most of that, the broker said in a statement.
“More and more people share the view that cash is king after the global bourses tumbled last month,” Hsu said. “The strengthening US dollar is luring global capital away from emerging markets, including Taiwan, leaving real -estate assets less attractive.”
Hsu, who had previously expected the housing market to bounce back this quarter, now holds a neutral view.
The return of unpaid leave at science-based parks in Hsinchu and Taichung is also likely to weaken home sales in those areas, where transactions have so far been less affected by the introduction of a luxury tax in June because of their relative affordability, Hsu said.
Low-priced units near public transportation will be the mainstay in the coming months, while inquiries about upscale housing are likely to turn sluggish, she said.
Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋), the nation’s largest real-estate broker by number of outlets, said transactions remained unchanged in last month from August as customers regained some of their confidence, following auctions of commercial properties over the last two weeks that drew record offers.
However, overall sales at Evertrust lagged behind the January level by 30 percent after reports that the luxury tax was starting to impact sales in February, Everstrust associate manager Jeffery Huang (黃增福) said.
The market is unlikely to recover fully until the eurozone shows signs of stabilization from its debt crisis, Huang said.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
Nintendo Co hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its leveled-up new console hits shelves on Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price. Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third-best-selling video game console of all time. However, despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out. The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high”
RSS